First Oral Drug for "Black Fever," A Major Killer, to Be Announced

German scientists and the World Health Organization (WHO) are expected to announce this week the first oral drug in the battle against "black fever," a debilitating disease that annually infects 500,000 people and kills 60,000. Black fever, or visceral leishmaniasis, is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bite of the tiny sand fly found mainly in India, Brazil and Bangladesh. One-third of all cases are children ages 2-16.

The parasite attacks the liver and spleen, causing fever, weight loss and a blackening of the skin. Those who aren't treated die. A growing worry is the spread of black fever among patients with HIV, because the interaction of the two diseases accelerates the onset of AIDS and shortens life expectancy. Lately, this has even become a problem in countries such as Spain, Italy and France, where the black fever parasite is found in dogs and sometimes infects people. In Europe, there are about 2,000 cases of HIV/black fever co-infection, according to Zentaris, the manufacturer of the new drug.

The new drug is part of a special effort by WHO to attack so-called neglected diseases -- those that afflict the world's poorest people. Miltefosine, the new medication, was developed by drug maker Zentaris AG, a Frankfurt-based spin-off of Degussa AG, with considerable help from the Tropical Diseases Research project, a program sponsored by WHO, the World Bank and the UN Development Program. The drug has been licensed in India.

In a study involving 600 black fever patients, mainly in India, the company has seen cure rates of more than 95 percent. The drug triggers side effects, though they are less severe than those caused by other medications for black fever. In September, the drug's effects will be further studied during a large clinical trial in India.

Zentaris is providing its new drug to about 50 HIV-black fever patients under a "compassionate use" trial. "Better nutrition in the West protects most of us" against black fever, says Jurgen Engel, chief executive of Zentaris. "But that's not the case is you have an immune systems that's compromised."

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